Physical Comedy

In Laughter Yoga, we use physical activity to generate laughter rather than using humour. Laughter in itself is a prehistoric form of vocal communication of positive emotion. As a form of human communication, it is universal, independent of language, culture or ideas. But that does not mean that Laughter Yoga is against humour. On the contrary,  laughing for no reason develops the sense of humour, and makes us laugh more easily when something funny actually occurs. There is however a form of humour that shares much in common with pure laughter, and that is physical humour. 

Physical comedy is non-verbal humour as typified in the slapstick antics of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton in silent movies. It is a form of humour that is universal, independent of language, culture or ideas, and that unites all human beings, just like laughter. 

On this page we present one of the oldest “jokes” in world, the humour of watching someone accidentally fall, or desperately trying not to fall. Enjoy watching this classic form of physical comedy in the several video versions below.